Michelin Guide announces expansion to include Minneapolis restaurants
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Minneapolis could soon get a coveted culinary honor: a Michelin-star restaurant.
Michelin announced Wednesday that it’s launching an American Great Lakes guide to restaurants, including Minneapolis and five other Great Lakes-area cities. It’s the first time reviewers will consider Minneapolis restaurants for the honor.
The inaugural guide, with its first restaurant selections, is set to be released next year.
Michelin Guide leaders made the announcement in Milwaukee on Wednesday morning, alongside tourism leaders from each city included in the new guide. Meet Minneapolis President Melvin Tennant said he’s excited to put a spotlight on the city’s restaurants.
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“For years our culinary scene has earned national acclaim, yet we’ve still been called unexpected, underrated,” Tennant said. “We’re taking a major step on the global stage.”
The city’s culinary scene boasts a number of other awards, including James Beard nominees and winners. Diane’s Place was named the 2025 Restaurant of the Year by Food & Wine magazine.
But Michelin reviewers have never worked in Minneapolis — until now.
Minneapolis’ tourism industry has long eyed the Michelin honors. But it’s often expensive to bring Michelin reviewers to a city.
The Minneapolis Tourism Improvement District is investing $250,000 per year in the project. That fund is generated by a service charge on hotel room revenue within city limits, for use in tourism and marketing. The partnership with the Michelin Guide runs from 2027 to 2029.
In an interview, Tennant said it’s a way to boost the city’s tourism industry after a challenging few years, with travel taking a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. The city’s restaurants also saw revenue drop drastically this winter during the federal immigration enforcement surge.
“With an announcement like this, we know that it’s going to create greater awareness for Minneapolis as a global food destination, and help to shape the perception of Minneapolis as a destination,” Tennant said.
The guide will only include restaurants within Minneapolis — not St. Paul or the suburbs.
In a statement, Visit St. Paul President Jaimee Lucke Hendrikson said they’re still excited to see the attention the Michelin Guide could bring to the region.
“We know that increased awareness and recognition in the region can benefit all of us," Hendrikson said. "St. Paul’s restaurant industry is unique, diverse, and stands up to the best in the country.”
Karyn Tomlinson — the James Beard Award-winning chef and owner of Myriel in St. Paul — said in a post on the restaurant’s social media that it’s hard to see St. Paul “specifically excluded.”
“Community-shaping food and hospitality is never defined by city limits or by award systems. I will hang on my hat on that forever,” Tomlinson wrote. “At Myriel we will always strive to be the very best we can regardless of who is looking.”
Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guide, said the cities included in the new guide — Cleveland, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and Detroit, in addition to Minneapolis — all deserve the recognition.
“We are excited to finally be putting a stake in the ground in the Great Lakes region, spotlighting the talent and food cultures across these six great cities,” Poullennec said.
Poullennec said Michelin reviewers are already on the ground in those cities. Michelin keeps the specifics of its reviewing process secret, along with the identities of its reviewers.
